Accident

A/N: Trying to do the math; if the Winter was 1.5 years ago, then Grimmjow left maybe right before summer break. Or whatever they call it in Japan. I personally had year around high school without a giant summer, but we'll go with the general norm I suppose (for the US at least). The current manga timeline picked up just as Ichigo was starting his senior year, which is around what time it is now in this fic.

"And what the hell do you want?" Ichigo asked the teen. He had known full well that he was being followed and had gone down the alley on purpose. Normally Ichigo might have even felt like beating the guy up might blow off some steam, but right now he just felt...drained. Bone deep tiredness seemed to ooze around him, and yet when he tried to sleep he couldn't. "Actually, I don't care what you want. Just leave me alone. I don't even want to deal with you today."

"Too bad, because today, I deal with you," the kid said.

Ichigo's eyes went wide.

Sorry, Dad. Sorry Karin...and Yuzu, Ichigo thought, laying on the cold pavement. Grimmjow...I'm sorry...

Grimmjow's eyes got wide and then he grinned wildly, running towards the source of new spiritual pressure. At first he had been entertained by the idiot hollows that had moved into Las Noches, having fun showing the ones that thought they were strong exactly what strength was. But after awhile things had died down and the last bit of time had mostly just been him sleeping outside wishing that he could find a nice sun to relax under. This however, was going to be fun.

"I almost feel like I should remember your name at this point," Grimmjow said when he found the source of the spiritual pressure. It was a lie that Grimmjow forgot Renji's name, but the shinigami didn't need to know that.

"It's a shame that I remember yours," Renji replied. "What the hell are you doing here anyways?"

"Ichigo wanted to be left alone for awhile so I left. Don't get any ideas though, Red, he's still mine," Grimmjow was quick to point out. He had heard stories from Ichigo reminiscing with his human friends, he knew that Renji and Ichigo had been pretty close friends, and he liked to cover his bases.

"Well at least now that summer is over he has school to distract him," Renji said.

"School?" Grimmjow blinked. "Are you lying to me?" he growled at the shinigami.

"Why would I lie about that?" Renji was honestly confused.

Shit, shit, shit. Grimmjow had only been planning on being gone for a week, maybe two. He had forgotten how easy it was to lose track of time in Hueco Mundo. How they hell did that turn into a few months? Was Ichigo really back in school already, had Grimmjow been gone the whole summer break? Damn it, Grimmjow cursed inwardly. What if Ichigo got lonely? Grimmjow's eyes narrowed as he briefly considered Ichigo in someone else's arms.

"I was really looking forward to fighting you, but I have things to do," Grimmjow stated, turning away from the shinigami.

"Hey wait!" Renji yelled after him.

"Oh, I cleaned out Las Noches for ya," Grimmjow called out behind him. "But maybe you'll find some small fry to play around with, assuming you can handle them...Captain." He made sure to emphasize the last word, almost as if sarcastic. He laughed at little at Renji cursing in the distance as he sonidoed away, but the shinigami made no attempt to follow him. Grimmjow opened up a gargantua.

I won't forgive you for this, Grimmjow, Karin was thinking to herself as she sat in the waiting room.

She hadn't thought he'd be away for too long, so she had just ignored Ichigo's obvious glumness for the couple weeks of Grimmjow being gone. But then he didn't come back, and Ichigo was only getting worse. It had been summer, and instead of going out the beach or going on trips with his friends, Ichigo had mostly holed up in his room.

Ichigo had told all of his family that he had ordered Grimmjow away, so they didn't really blame Grimmjow the way that Karin did. You knew he didn't mean it, you ass, Karin thought as she gritted her teeth. She put an arm around Yuzu, happy that her sister was sleeping and a least for awhile, not crying.

Grimmjow was surprised to find the house empty. He walked up to Ichigo's room, feeling a slight pang as he saw how messy it was. Ichigo was normally pretty tidy. The window was locked and the curtains drawn, something Ichigo had given up a long time ago, before Grimmjow even. Considering that his shinigami friends would simply go through the window if it was locked, it had been the best thing to do.

Grimmjow saw a note on Ichigo's pillow. He picked it up and read it over.

….no...

Grimmjow rushed outside and didn't even bother following the directions left for him. He was bad with human street names and addresses anyways. Instead he focused on finding Isshin and Karin's spiritual pressure. He located them and took off.

He found Karin first, holding Yuzu.

"This wouldn't have happened if you were here," Karin said, glaring at him.

"How...where is he?" Grimmjow asked.

"In surgery. My dad's outside smoking. Talk to him," Karin suggested.

"Hey," Isshin greeted him, not turning to look at him.

"So...uh..." Grimmjow wasn't sure what to ask.

"He's in surgery now, but you should know that they've said there's only a 10% chance he'll even live through it. God knows what his actual recovery odds are," Isshin said, his jaw tightening.

Karin had followed Grimmjow out, a groggy Yuzu following her.

"What about...er..." Grimmjow was terrible at names. "Orihime! Where the hell is she?"

"Not around here, believe me I've looked," Isshin said. "I have Tessai on hold to come over after Ichigo comes out of surgery, but kido healing can only do so much."

Grimmjow was trying to think. That butch chick...Tatsuki...Tatsuki and Orihime talking about a vacation that summer, that it was going to overlap the beginning of the school year but that they had talked to their teachers about it. Where to? Damn it, Grimmjow wished he had been paying attention to the girls' prattle.

"You have Tatsuki's number," Grimmjow remembered, looking at Karin.

"What?"

"Something about a soccer game she was going to, so she gave you her cell phone number," Grimmjow stated.

Karin nodded, remembering.

"She's with Orihime on vacation," Grimmjow said.

"Where?" Isshin asked.

"Some other country," Grimmjow replied.

"Damn it," Isshin cursed.

"Don't worry about it," said Grimmjow, "if you tell me where to go, I can get there. I don't need clearance or set up for my gargantua like you guys have to use with your senkaimon. I can travel to any place from Hueco Mundo."

Karin was already on the phone. "They're in Paris, France," she relayed to Grimmjow after briefly talking to Tatsuki. "Do you need to know where?"

"Naw, I'll find them," Grimmjow said. "Tell Orihime to get ready because if she's too slow I'll just toss her over my shoulder and take off."

Orihime was ready when he got there, but Grimmjow still just scooped her up in his arms. It would be faster that way. She had questions of course, but Grimmjow didn't actually know the answers to most of them.

At the hospital he put her down at the entrance so that she could sign herself in. Grimmjow had thought about just kicking in the window of wherever Ichigo was and dropping her off directly, but he was sure other humans would then run in and interfere with her.

"Only immediate family members are allowed into the ICU," the receptionist said, looking at the sign in form that Orihime had signed.

"Oh well, you see, I'm his fiancée," Orihime said, not ashamed at all for lying.

Grimmjow didn't wait for Orihime, and headed down to where he could feel Isshin.

He passed the waiting room where Karin and Yuzu still were, along with Isshin's body. Grimmjow continued on and walked into a room at the end of the hall.

He barely registered that Isshin (in his spirit form) was there, because his eyes locked onto Ichigo's body, looking pathetic on the hospital bed, his body hooked up to tubes and machines.

Isshin didn't ask if Orihime was there, he could feel her nearby.

"What the hell happened to him?" Grimmjow asked, looking at Ichigo's broken body.

"He was shot six times. I don't know why," Isshin answered.

"I'm glad that you're in that form," Grimmjow stated, "because there's something I want you to do."

"What is that?"

"If Ichigo dies, then..."cleanse" me," Grimmjow said.

"You want me to kill you?" Isshin asked quietly.

"Well, I'm already dead really. But at least this way there's a chance that we'd pass on together, right?" Grimmjow asked.

Isshin didn't answer, just looked at Grimmjow.

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo's voice came through the air ventilator covering him mouth.

"Ichigo," Grimmjow looked into the brown eyes that finally were seeing him. All of sudden Grimmjow felt sick. "Oh no, Ichigo..." It was common knowledge that humans near death could see spirits. "I'm sorry I left you alone," Grimmjow said, his right hand brushing against Ichigo's hair.

Ichigo reached up and put one of his own hands on Grimmjow's.

"You know that I...I love you, right?" Grimmjow got out. He didn't know if he had never said it because he had been running away from it or if he just hadn't wanted to say it when Ichigo couldn't hear him, but it was important to him that Ichigo know now, especially if...

"I missed you," Ichigo said. "And I love you too."

Grimmjow smiled, but even now there was something he absolutely needed to know. "Who did this to you?"

Ichigo paused. "You...can't kill him."

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed. Like hell he couldn't. He looked up and met Isshin's eyes, surprised to find them steely and hard.

"Yeah, ok," Grimmjow agreed. "I won't kill him."

"His name is Obunta, he's leader of a gang that I've had trouble with. I've beaten up members of it before for hassling me, and I guess he swore to get revenge on me. I really didn't think that it was going to be hard, since it was just him and me...but..." Ichigo explained.

Grimmjow looked up at Isshin, who gave an almost imperceptible nod.

I won't kill him because you asked me not to, Ichigo, Grimmjow thought, but I sure as hell hope your dad sends him off to the next world. And if he happens to run into me before then, it's not really my fault if something happens to him.

Orihime came in through the door, escorted by a nurse. Grimmjow backed up to give her room, pulling away from Ichigo.

Tears silently fell down Orihime's face as she began to heal Ichigo.

"Hey," Ichigo said to her, "It'll be ok."

She nodded and kept healing him.

"Thanks for getting her," Isshin said to Grimmjow. "How did you know to come back? You've been gone for awhile."

"Lucky timing. Well, crummy timing really, because if I had come back earlier then this definitely wouldn't have happened," Grimmjow said. If that stupid red haired shinigami finds out then I'm going to have to owe him, he thought to himself.

"Watch at the door so you can let Orihime know if anyone is coming," Isshin told Grimmjow.

Grimmjow nodded and positioned himself just outside the door, leaving it open a crack so he could still see Ichigo.

He wasn't surprised at how quick it seemed for her to be done, he'd seen her bring Ichigo back from death after Ulquiorra put his hand through his chest, and the bullets had already been removed by the surgical team.

Isshin helped Ichigo remove his IV and turned off the heart monitor before removing the various diodes connected to Ichigo's chest.

"How long have you not had a hollow hole?" Ichigo asked when Grimmjow walked back in.

"What?" Grimmjow instantly put a hand to his stomach. "What the hell?" He looked up at Ichigo in confusion.

"GRIMMJOW!" Ichigo yelled as the jawbone connected to Grimmjow's face began to crumble.

Grimmjow's eyes were wide in panic as he gripped his face. Ichigo had jumped off the bed and was wrapped around Grimmjow.

"Don't...don't disappear," Ichigo said, holding Grimmjow tightly.

"I..." Several seconds passed. Grimmjow started to breathe again. Now that Grimmjow had calmed down a little he was thinking more clearly. "I'm...fine."

"What?" Ichigo looked up at him.

"I don't know," Grimmjow couldn't really explain it.

"It disappeared around the time that he asked me to kill him if you died," Isshin said.

"YOU WHAT?" Ichigo yelled at Grimmjow.

Grimmjow just smiled. Having Ichigo mad at him was like old times.

"Don't give me that grin," Ichigo chided him. "You...stupid...idiot..."

"Nice one," Grimmjow teased him.

"If hollows have holes where their souls used to be, does that mean that Grimmjow found his soul?" Orihime asked.

"Don't be so sappy," Grimmjow groaned.

Ichigo and Grimmjow looked at each other, and Ichigo realized he really wanted to kiss Grimmjow, but that he probably shouldn't in front of...Grimmjow could care less about crap like that so he just leaned over and caught Ichigo's lip with his own.

"Um..." Orihime was blushing a little and looked away as the couple continued to kiss. "How are we going to explain Ichigo's recovery?" Orihime asked Isshin.

"This is Ryuken Ishida's hospital, I'll go and talk to him. We'll have him moved to a private hospital, at least on paper, that way people won't ask questions," Isshin said. "I'll go and do that now." He cast a glance at Orihime, who immediately got the point.

"I'm glad you're better, Ichigo," she said, walking to the door.

"Yeah, thanks a lot Orihime," Ichigo replied.

The two began to leave.

"Dad?" Ichigo asked, pulling away from Grimmjow, who gave a small growl of disapproval.

Isshin turned. "What is it?"

"How long do you think it will be before I...can't see Grimmjow anymore?"

"It depends. Usually humans that have lived through near death experiences lose that ability very quickly," Isshin answered. "A couple days at most, most likely."

"Thanks," Ichigo answered.

"Damn it, I can't believe I said I loved you. You know I only did that because I thought you were dying," Grimmjow joked.

"Do you want sex or not?" Ichigo asked crossing his arms.

Grimmjow's eyebrows shot up. "Yes," he said huskily as he moved on Ichigo.

"Not here you spaz," Ichigo said, pushing him away.

"Well then it's out the window..."

"At least let me say hi to my sisters first," Ichigo stopped him.

"You're killing me here," Grimmjow complained and then went out to get Karin and Yuzu.

A/N: Aren't you glad I wasn't mean and didn't do a huge set up just to leave Ichigo dying in the hospital and make you wait to see what happened?